The Enlightened Auction-Goer: The top local sales, first-timer strategies, and how to turn your junk into someone else’s treasure.

Yes, humorless blue-hairs still rule the resale scene, but the advent of eBay and other online auction sites has lowered the median age of bidders substantially. Which, in turn, has changed the game. “Now young people are everywhere with their smartphones, doing their research online, so they know exactly what things are worth,” says South Shore resident adam brunsell, below, who at 22 picked up part of a Maxwell auto at auction and flipped it on eBay for a tidy profit. Eight years later, he’s still dealing every chance he gets, using the Internet to make savvy bids-—and thousands of dollars annually. One recent coup: a Smokey Bear lunchbox bought at auction for $5 and resold online for $735.

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